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Re: Should we do away with marriage as a legal status?

Originally Posted by Peter Grimm

In Scandinavia, hardly anyone gets married anymore. What is the point? If you love someone, you can live with them. In Sweden, they call this "sambo."

There was a time when pretty much everyone agreed on the definition of marriage... so it worked. Marriage was between a man and a woman, it was a sacred bond, and divorce was an unthinkable stigma. Slowly, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.... our perceptions have changed.

Now, there is all this fussing and fighting, hooting and hollering over what marriage ought to be, who ought to be allowed to marry whom, etc.

So I say like the ever forward-thinking and practical Swedes: What's the point?

Government shouldn't need to be involved in marriage. For those who want to get married and have a ceremony and wear the pretty dress, you can do so. Go to your church and get married, or your mosque, or your temple, or your favorite casino with a midget elvis impersonator holding the proceedings.... whatever floats your boat.

Wear your pretty dress, have your day in the sun.

But get rid of marriage as a legal status. It serves no purpose except to make society fight over nothing.

Christ

Why does everyone loath marriage so much that they really consider deleting it form human history?

I want to be married - and live a unified life - and be treated as such per a family and not be classified as single and 'occupying a home' . . . gesus

A screaming comes across the sky.
It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.

Re: Should we do away with marriage as a legal status?

Originally Posted by roguenuke

The government is going to do it. People are not going to do this themselves. They will not be able to agree on what value things are, especially not before it happens. You are living in this dream world. It isn't reality.

Why should it go under only one if both provide money toward the house, as many couples do? That's not right.

Then you can co-own it like you would co-own something with a roommate. You own the percentage of what you put in.

So because people are incapable of looking after their own interests, we need the government to come in and play daddy? Sorry, I can't get on board with that logic.

Re: Should we do away with marriage as a legal status?

Of course. Being married is a special legal class in America today, complete with tax benefits and everything. Of course you like the cushy life at the expense of others. I probably would too.

Or tax liabilities. The Congressional Budget Committee did a study on this that showed that legalizing same sex marriage would most likely increase tax income, not decrease it. Those tax benefits are not what many seem to believe they are. Individual couples may benefit, but then more couples are harmed or don't really have a difference in their taxes. And being married could mean a couple is less likely to get government assistance because of their joint incomes rather than just one income.

There is no "at the expense of others". You want to make this claim, then prove it with real evidence, real numbers, real studies that show this, not just your beliefs or assumptions.

"A woman is like a teabag, you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Re: Should we do away with marriage as a legal status?

And many who own something with their roommates still have to go to civil court to determine its worth and how it will be worked out.

Again, you are living in this fantasy world where things do not happen in accordance with your ideal belief.

The reason we have civil courts is because the government is needed to solve disputes. That is the absolute purpose of civil courts and it has been working for a long time.

I don't think I ever suggested eliminating civil courts, I've just suggested ways of making things a lot simpler by making them more black-and-white. The current system is broken, it needs re-adjustment.

Re: Should we do away with marriage as a legal status?

Originally Posted by roguenuke

Or tax liabilities. The Congressional Budget Committee did a study on this that showed that legalizing same sex marriage would most likely increase tax income, not decrease it. Those tax benefits are not what many seem to believe they are. Individual couples may benefit, but then more couples are harmed or don't really have a difference in their taxes. And being married could mean a couple is less likely to get government assistance because of their joint incomes rather than just one income.

There is no "at the expense of others". You want to make this claim, then prove it with real evidence, real numbers, real studies that show this, not just your beliefs or assumptions.

I don't believe a word the Congressional Budget Committee says, sorry. Nor am I really all that interested in gay marriage or gay politics in general.

And yes, if you get a tax break whereas I don't, then you're getting it at my expense. I'm paying more taxes relative to my income than a married person. Thus, I'm subsidizing marriage, in a way.